by Robert Ellsberg. Published by Orbis books, 2019 Reviewed by Laurel Lanner

Robert Ellsberg has written a number of books on saints and in this volume he has gathered up bits and pieces of published and unpublished material to make a rather satisfactory whole. Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, Henri Nouwen, Flannery O’Connor and Charles de Foucauld each have a chapter to themselves. Under self-confessed pressure from the Maryknoll Sisters, “Holy Women” are bundled together in another chapter. These chapters are interesting and informative. The discussion of Nouwen and Day, particularly, gives an insight into the souls behind the names that may surprise.

Ellsberg draws together disparate “saints” — official and unofficial — by the concept of our “journey faith”. We are all drawn to a journey of holiness that encompasses the totality of our lives and includes the failures, tempers and general humdrummery of daily existence. The life of Jesus, lived mostly in quiet obscurity, and his death as a failure can be seen in the holy lives Ellsberg has chosen to highlight and, too, in our own lives.

The value of this book is found not so much in the stories of those presented, but in the discussion with which Ellsburg has woven them together. It is written for a general readership and will interest those who enjoy biographies as well as those who would like encouragement for their own everyday lives.

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 243 November 2019: 13